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Tuesday, June 23, 2015

The Need for Positive Energy

Anyone else out there tired of seeing horror stories, doom and gloom blazoned across the media? Has anyone ever thought "What if the news showed more positive stories than harrowing stories?" "What if the news shifted its focus and put the emphasis on hope in humanity instead of disasters and terror?"

Of course we need to stay informed. People need to be aware of events and natural disasters and world community. But what if media shifted the focus and put those stories on the back page? What if news spent 20 minutes on mission works and charities and things that ordinary people do for ordinary people? Sandwich the terror, doom, gloom and war in the middle of hope. We all know the terror is out there, but we need examples of hope, we need things to emulate that aren't violent, aren't based in anger and frustration. We need to be taught by the media that it's NOT ok to take out your frustrations on a church full of people. Because face it, we are TAUGHT by the media, we are taught by example. We see things being given attention that are horrifying and if we want attention, maybe we should do something horrifying.

*sigh* This is one of my most devastatingly painful convictions. I stopped watching the news and reading newspapers and internet headlines years ago. I stay informed, don't get me wrong, but I don't need details. We are tuned in to be negative. Sure there are positive stories of hope and goodwill out there, many many stories. But how many times are they given the back page, or made into memes to chuckle over, or tucked away as some kind of fantasy that isn't achievable by the ordinary person? Doom, gloom, terror, violence toward our fellow man, that's what shapes the overall reality of society through the media. IF you pay attention to that. If you are one of the people who seeks out the positive and digs it up and uses it to bolster your hope in humanity, I salute you! If you're like me and must limit all media to a bare minimum or suffer deep depression over the state of the world, then hear me out. There needs to be a balance.

I'm a writer. I write mysteries, and I fight with my conviction over writing the types of things that happen in mysteries. I'm an unashamed mystery junkie. How can I promote those things in my books when I don't want that kind of focus in the media? How can I read mysteries? But I don't write "Thrillers". I don't write current events. You will never see me dabble in real politics. My subjects are fairy tales dotted with bad things that good people triumph over. At least that's what I strive for. The triumph is the key. Not triumph through violence. Not triumph of an eye for an eye. Triumph over solving a puzzle, giving the needy the edge, and show that the bullies aren't the ones getting attention. Or something like that.

Let's face it, bad things happen. The key is balance. The key is knowing how to get positive attention, and knowing positive ways to get what you need emotionally, physically, and spiritually. There is a huge deficit in this balance. The weights are on the negative side. We are losing our ability as a world community to feel like The Good is even possible; that everyone has the right to have their needs fulfilled in non-violent, humanity promoting ways.

One phenomenal author who I aspire to emulate and have failed, is Nancy Atherton.

If you are looking for good puzzle mystery mayhem without the murder, I recommend all of her superb books.

We need to band together to promote positive energy, positive stories, stories of real heroes, real stories we want our children to go to bed with at night. There is a need for some level of awareness, and there is a need for children to feel like they can conquer the world and fight back, but we don't give our kids the proper tools. We give the violence toward our fellow man attention. We give our lurid sides and our vices attention. How is anyone supposed to learn that getting attention through those means is bad, if it's what we are giving our attention? We all want attention. Social media is the backlash born of that need, and even that has been a field for attackers. Please, people. Stop the bullying. Everywhere. One way to stop it, is to shift the focus. Rewrite those stories to show people doing good, even if there are bad things happening in the story. Give the power to the good.

Let's give our attention to our families, our friends, our loved ones. Let's show how humanity can give attention to love. Love of everyone. Tolerance of everyone. People are who we have to live with. We don't all agree, but we all have a right to live and be happy. (I am not getting into judging crime or politics. That's not my point. My point is going to the core, so the power goes back to what is really good.) And if anyone is overwhelmed by the thought of taking on the media, like I am, focus on your families.

Love your people! Show them by your example and explain that what the world lens focuses on, is not how it has to be.

Rant over.

Live simply that others may simply live.

Show a person how to hug and say, Hello Beautiful.

Be kind. Find peace. Give love.

(I encourage readers to check out the links under the graphics I put in this post.)

2 comments:

Good read and insight message. I agree wholeheartedly! Also my characters can be a bit twisted and demented but mystery crime fiction, is fiction, and not horrible images of destruction, death and tragedies... Plus there's dialogue, and that can lighten even the worst situations.

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The Meaning of Sisu

Sisuis a Finnish term loosely translated into English as strength of will, determination, perseverance and acting rationally in the face of adversity. However, the word is widely considered to lack proper translation into any other language. Sisu has been described as being integral to understanding Finnish culture. The literal meaning is equivalent in English to "having guts", and the word derives from sisus, which means something inner or interior. (from - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisu - See also Cultural significance on that site)